Charming Xander
by tavin93
Summary: At the end of Becoming part two Xander sends Angel to Hell instead of Buffy. Forced to flee Sunnydale or face Buffy's wrath Xander heads to San Francisco, and finds he has never been the "Normal" member of the Scoobies.
1. Chapter 1

1. Chapter One

disclaimer I own nothing in the Charmed or Buffy franchises.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Just so you know I'm pushing the Buffy time line back so Becoming Part Two takes place in 2000.

AUTHOR'S NOTE 2

I originally posted this story on twisting the Hellmouth and decided to post it here on fanfiction . net. There are some spelling mistakes that I haven't caught so please bear with me.

Xander had made his way back inside the mansion just in time to see Buffy kissing Angel. "Huh, I guess Willow actually pulled it off," Xander said to himself. Just then Acathla's portal opened up behind the two lovers. Xander was the first to notice, and his gasp alerted the others. "Xander! What are you doing here? I told you to get out with Giles," Buffy yelled. "I got him out, but I was worried about you, Buff. "Buffy started to drag Angel toward the sewer entrance saying, "It doesn't matter now we need to get out of here."

At this point Angel stopped her pulling out of her grasp. "Buffy no we need to close the portal," Angel said. Buffy turned around with tears in her eyes. "But the only way to do that is to kill you. I won't do it. I…I, I can't!"

Xander knew she couldn't, no wouldn't, kill Angel, and what was worse Angel knew it too. At this point the portal was getting bigger and started pulsing with a sinister glow. Angel turned to the one other person in the room. Even though Xander and Angel hated each other, Angel had a great deal of respect for him. Xander saw the pleading in Angels' eyes and knew what he wanted. At that moment Xander couldn't hate Angel. It was impossible to hate someone that was condemning them self to Hell.

Xander reached down and picked up the sword that Buffy had thrown away. When Xander gave a slight nod to Angel telling him he was ready he kissed Buffy one last time, and shoved her to the side. Xander ran at Angel and ran him through.

Angel was lifted off his feet and was pulled backwards towards the portal. "NOOO!" Buffy screamed. Xander grabbed her before she could be pulled into the portal with Angel. "I'm sorry Buffy, but know that it had to be this way and I will always love you," Angel said as he was sucked into Hell.

Xander let Buffy fall to her knees and knelt beside her. "I'm sorry Buff, but there was no other way." She was silent for a long time finally she looked up with bloodshot eyes filled with rage. "Xander run. Leave town and don't come back, because if I see you again I will kill you," Buffy was practically snarling. Xander couldn't believe what he was hearing. Yes he killed Angel, but Angel practically told him to.

Buffy went to stand up and he stepped back. When she got to her feet she started to walk away. "Buffy wait! Angel wanted the portal closed and he knew you couldn't do it. I just did what he wanted," he tried to explain. Buffy spun back around and punched him in the gut sending him slamming into the far wall. Her eyes were cold, almost dead, as she said," I'm telling you one more time to leave. By sunrise tomorrow if you're still in Sunnydale I will kill you." With that said she walked out the door to help Giles get to the Hospital.

Xander stood there shocked. What just happened? I helped save the world, again, and now I'm being treated like a demon.

As Xander painfully stood up he was wondering about where he could go. He had a little money saved up for his road trip he was planning on taking after graduation, but where could he go. I'll go to LA he thought. It's not too far and I should be able to buy a bus ticket fairly cheap. With that problem solved he ran home to pack.

He figured Giles and the rest of the Scoobies needed to know what happened, but with Buffy's threat hanging over his head he decided to leave a message on Giles answering machine. After he left the payphone, he made the call with; he climbed in his bedroom window.

Xander grabbed two duffel bags and stuffed one with clothes and the other with basic essentials: toiletries, Twinkies, first aid kit, holy water, stakes, a couple blessed daggers, and a short sword. After he was all packed he pried open the loose floor board, and cleaned out all the cash he had.

He made one last check to see if he was missing anything, and noticed a picture frame that had two pictures in it one of him, Jesse, and Willow and the other of him, Willow, and Buffy. He grabbed it and shoved it in the side pocket of the duffel bag with his clothes in it. Xander made his way downstairs, one last time, making sure not to wake up his passed out parents. That was definitely one thing he wouldn't miss his drunken parents. He walked out the door and headed to the bus station.

At the bus station Xander had a dilemma. There were no buses leaving for LA till noon tomorrow. The only two buses leaving tonight was a bus to Las Vegas or one to San Francisco. While it would be cool to go to Las Vegas it would practically wipe out all of my savings. With that thought he bought the ticket for San Francisco, and ten minutes later he was on his way to starting his own destiny

Chapter 2

Xander was alone and cold. He had been running for what seemed like forever, but still they kept coming. Shadows that would leap out at him. Some wielded swords others flung fireballs at him. Still he kept running. Then... he tripped over his own shoelaces and fell flat on his face.

When he turned over he was surrounded. It was over after surviving the Hellmouth and multiple apocalypses he was going to die. Then something happened he felt a warmth start to well up inside his chest and spread down into his arms. Suddenly his hand erupted into flame. At first he panicked, but then realized he wasn't in any pain. All he felt was a comforting heat.

Then Xander remembered that he had just been running for his life, but when he looked up the shadows were recoiling in fear. Now Xander wasn't always quick on the uptake but even he knew that they were scared of the fire he had crawling up and down his arms.

He started waving his arms around like he would use a flaming torch forcing the shadows back farther and farther. When one of the shadows lunged at him he raised his hand to hold off the blow, but the fire gathered in the palm of his hand was flung forward incinerating the shadow before it could reach him.

All Xander could do was laugh it was like he was the human torch. Unfortunately that one moment of distraction was all the shadows needed. The shadows managed to knock him off his feet and started to cover him. He was drowning in shadows. He couldn't breathe, and then he started to go numb. The pleasant warmth started to fade slowly from his arms and chest until only a small ember remained in his heart.

NO!

I will not die like this. Xander was mad. No Xander was furious. All of a sudden the small ember started to burn like an inferno. The fire literally exploded out of his body destroying all the shadows. Then Xander woke up.

As Xander looked around he noticed that they were heading into San Francisco. Almost there he thought to himself. As they pulled into the bus stop and he got his bags he never noticed that his seat was singed.

**Upper Realm**

"Did you feel that?" "Yes it seems that an Aiken witch has finally left the Hellmouth. We must learn who they are." "Who knows how corrupt they are now thanks to the Hellmouth's energies. We should probably just have the Charmed Ones deal with them," Elder Odin said. "Peace, the Aiken witches were always great forces of good. They even rivaled the Halliwell's in shear power," Elder Sandra responded. The meeting quickly deteriorated into a shouting match.

Elder Zola finally spoke up," Why don't we send a White lighter to observe this new witch to determine if they are indeed a threat." Many of the Elders agreed with his plan; however Elder Odin had to put his two cents in. "Yes but who should we send. In case your forgetting the Hellmouth energies are subtle and not easily detected, and only a few of our White lighters can even go near a Hellmouth without being poisoned and risk turning into a Dark lighter." "Why not send Sandra was she not a slayer. She should know the Hellmouth's energies better than most of us. She is also one of the only White lighters who can handle them self in a fight if it comes to that," an Elder in the back said.

Elder Zola looked around at the gathered Elders and asked, "Are we in agreement?" Seeing there nods of consent he smiled and said," Then call for Sandra and give her charges to others this requires her full attention.

Meanwhile in a slightly worse for wear hotel

"Well it could be better, but it's warm and it has a shower," Xander said to himself. Now if I can find a job tomorrow I'll be just peachy he thought. Xander changed and hopped in bed. As he turned off the light his last thought was I wonder how the gang is doing.

3. Chapter 3

Sandra was bored. She had been a White Lighter for 64 years now, and this was by far the worst assignment yet. Being a past slayer she kept her heightened senses and reflexes; however, she only had half of her past strength. Unfortunately she also kept the restlessness of the slayer, and that's what was driving her crazy.

Sandra was generally given the more active charges the ones who face demons and danger every day. She was even supposed to be the Charmed Ones White Lighter, but it was decided she already had too many charges and the Charmed Ones would need special attention.

As you can tell she liked action, so babysitting a 17 year old witch, no matter how powerful, was boring. The kid was normal and that was saying something considering he grew up on the Hellmouth. She had been watching him for a week already, and though she wondered where he learned how to sling drinks he didn't do anything out of the ordinary.

She had easily been able to tell that he wasn't being influenced by the Hellmouth's energies, but there was something off with his soul. She just couldn't tell what. Sandra was going to contact an aura reader tomorrow to take a closer look.

The only thing remotely interesting was his records. Multiple trips to the E.R., lots of crime reports (either as a suspect or witness), and his grads dropped a lot in his sophomore year. A little more digging and a few informants showed that Alexander Lavelle Harris was anything but your typical runaway. Sandra easily saw the signs of a demon hunter, but not just any demon hunter but one fighting with a slayer.

She finally got the full story when she made a stop at Willie's Alibi Room in Sunnydale. Apparently Alexander or "Xander" had been fighting with the slayer for the past two years along with his other friend a Willow Rosenberg a practitioner. They past couple of months they had been fighting against Angelus "The Scourge of Europe". He had the great idea to open a portal to Hell using Acathla. When they managed to get his soul back it was too late and the portal had already been opened. The Slayer wouldn't kill her reensouled lover so Xander stabbed Angel in order to close the portal. The Slayer took the loss of her lover rather badly and threatened him with death if he didn't leave town, so now he's here and her problem.

When she checked out his room she didn't find much; clothes, toiletries, food wrappers, and weapons! That defiantly proved he was a demon hunter. She was ready to make her report to the Elders all she was waiting for was the deeper scan of his aura.

**Boa Cervexa**

Xander was surprised that he actually learned something useful from his parents. All of the drinks he's had to make over the years managed to help get him a job as a bar tender ant Boa Cervexa. It wasn't the best bar in the city, but the crowd had been getting bigger the longer he worked there. He never even thought it might be because he was attracting more clientele due to his skills mixing drinks. He managed to get the job a four days age even though he was underage. In a couple of weeks he might be able to get a cheap apartment.

Xander had tried patrolling the first couple of nights he was here, but the graveyards were dead in a good way. He still kept an eye out but nothing demonic jumped out at him. He only had two problems the first was that he kept feeling like someone was watching him. He never found anyone but he still felt eyes on him. The second problem was ever since his dream on the bus his hands were constantly warm, or sometimes even hot.

He was probably just jumping at shadows, but living on the Hellmouth tends to make one cautious. What he wouldn't do to be able to talk to Giles right now, but he was avoiding all of the Scoobies at the moment. He didn't want them to hate him just like Buffy.

"Harris! Get back to cleaning up. I want to be out of here before three tonight," Mike yelled. Mike owned the bar, and was a pretty nice guy. The only thing he told Xander, when he started to work there, was not to drink until he's legal or he'd kick his sorry but to the curb. "Yes sir, Boss man sir," Xander replied.

"See ya tomorrow Boss man," Xander said as Mike locked up for the night. "Night kid and be safe. I don't want to have to hire another bartender so soon," Mike replied. Xander started heading back to his hotel room shadowed by Sandra. When he was still two blocks away he heard a scream. "Crap! Here I thought this city was demon free," he complained to himself. He pulled out his blessed daggers as he ran towards the scream.

As he rounded the corner he saw a young blonde probably 18-20 years old. She had on dark blue jeans a green tank top with a jean jacket. Her pants were ripped on one leg with a shallow cut underneath, but the more serious wounds were the ones on her arms. Xander could tell that the slashes on her arms were defensive.

Standing over top of her was a humanoid figure with green skin and clawed hands and feet. It was dressed in rags causing it to look like a homeless person. Of course Xander being Xander charges head on yelling, "Hey ugly." Not the most creative line but it got the demons attention.

The demon turned slashing at Xander's face, but Xander ducked underneath the blow and managed to tackle the demon to the ground. somehow Xander landed on top and was able to plunge one of his daggers into its chest. The demon howled in pain from the blessed metal, but was able to throw Xander off. Both of the combatants climbed to their feet and Xander tried for another lunge. The demon was prepared this time and used his momentum against him and slammed him into the wall of the alley. Xander fell to the ground and the demon was on top of him slashing away at his chest and arms. Somehow Xander was able to snake his other dagger up and managed to slit the demons throat. As the demon reeled back Xander followed and managed to bury his dagger in the demons head scrambling its brains.

When the demon fell to the ground it turned into a bunch of green goo. "Huh, nifty no clean up," Xander said right before he passed out from the poison he didn't know was on the demons claws.

CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! "Nice job kid we'll need to work on some better forms when I'm officially your Whiter Lighter, but nice job," Sandra said stepping out of the shadows where she watched the whole fight. She healed the girl first, since she had been exposed to the poison longer, then went and healed her charge. She looked through the girl's purse and found her driver's license and found out she lived about four blocks over. Sandra orbed the girl then came back and orbed her charge into his hotel room. "Sleep tight Alex. You show a great deal of potential we just need to work on your technique. When I'm through with you you'll be able to take down all manners of demons without your powers, and with them you'll be incredible," she said before orbing out. She had a report to make.


	2. Chapter 2

4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I still own nothing.

**Upper Realms**

When Sandra orbed in she headed straight for Elder Zola. "Elder Zola I have news," she said.

"Ah, Sandra. So how goes our new witch," he replied.

"He's settled into a hotel room, and managed to get a job working as a bartender at a bar named Boa Cervexa. Where the kid learned to sling drinks is a mystery to me, but he's good," Sandra said.

At this point she was drawing the other Elders attention. Unfortunate that meant Elder Odin started to take an interest in the report as well. If there was any Elder that Sandra disliked more than Elder Odin she hadn't found them yet. To her he was a pompous, arrogant; full of himself Elder who was constantly on any White Lighters case if they didn't follow the rules to a T. Sandra normally doesn't deal with him since she avoids him like a plague.

"So how is the Hellmouth witch? Is he a threat that we should worry about or should we just kill him now and be done with it?" Elder Odin asked.

Not two minutes with the guy and he's already causing her to grind her teeth. "No Elder Odin. As far as I can tell he is not being influenced by the residual energies at all. Actually the Hellmouth's demonic energy seems to be dissipating," she answered. Sandra continued, "There is something that's been bothering me. There is something off about his aura. I can't place what it is, but it doesn't seem bad. I was actually going to make this report after I had a chance to let a friend of mine read his aura more closely, but things came up."

"This troubles me. Be sure to bring us your findings after your friend has had a chance to read him. Auras can tell a lot about a person," Elder Zola said.

"What happened to make you report early, Sandra?" Elder Jonnah asked.

Sandra Smiled at Elder Jonnah. While she liked the other Elders for the most part she was particularly close to Elders Zola and Jonnah.

"Tonight on his way back to his hotel he heard a scream of a girl being attacked by a Grock demon. He charged off towards the scream pulling out two blessed daggers," Sandra began. "Upon seeing the demon he did not hesitate, but lunged at it Knocking it off its feet. The two then continued to brawl until finally Alex managed to get a dagger in its eye scrambling its brains."

"Impressive," Elder Zola said. Elder Odin just grunted in response.

"Why did he not just use his powers?" Elder Jonnah asked.

"I believe he doesn't know he has any," Sandra responded.

Cries of outrage immediately sprung up amongst the gathered Elders until one asked," He is an Aiken witch how could he not know about his powers?"

Sandra had thought about this too long enough to come up with a theory about how this could happen. "I believe," she began gaining everyone's attention. "I believe that when the Aiken witches moved to the Hellmouth, to help protect it, they underestimated its corruptive energy."

"This particular Hellmouth is stronger than any other. Its energy has many different forms; while its corruptive power is its most useful it can also have a draining effect, especially on forces of good. I think the Aiken witches were slowly drained until it appeared they had no magic at all. Furthermore now that Alex is away from the Hellmouth he has pulled free of its influence, and should start manifesting his powers soon," she finished.

The Elders shared worried looks. "If what you say is true then he has no training, and is a budding, powerful, witch. We will need to approach him soon before he starts attracting Warlocks and others of their ilk," Elder Zola said. "I believe that you should talk to him after you have his aura read. Something about that is troubling me," he continued.

With that Sandra nodded and orbed out to meet her friend in LA to see if he can come any sooner.

**Xander's' hotel room**

Xander was just starting to wake up.

Ahhg! I feel like I just fought a demon. He thought to himself. He rolled over and looked at his bedside table and saw his daggers there coated in green demon goo.

Crap I did fight a demon he thought. Then how did I get here and why am I not bleeding or bandaged? Xander was seriously confused. Then a light bulb went off in his head. The feeling I've been getting the one like someone has been watching me maybe there has been someone following me.

"Oh! I wish I had a Giles right now," he said out loud.

"Right so no Giles means that I have to do the research thing solo."

With that Xander left to find an occult store or bookshop.

5. Chapter 5

**Xander's hotel room**

'Well that was a bust' Xander thought to himself. He had looked through four occult bookstore, two libraries, and a lot of internet sites, but nothing. Oh sure he found a lot of benevolent being, but there was no way to which one helped him. Not to mention if it was benevolent at all. Xander decided to call it a day since he had to be at work in two hours.

He had been cautious all day, but he hadn't had that creepy sensation of someone watching him. That meant either they got what they want or they were being extra careful. Either way Xander was going to be packing some extra heat tonight.

"Hmm maybe the battle ax," he said to himself. "Nah to big better go with the short sword," he finally decided.

While Xander was getting ready for work Sandra was trying to convince her friend to make a quick stop in San Francisco.

"Come on Lorne it will be really quick. One orb there one aura scan and one orb back five minutes tops," Sandra said.

"I love ya darling but no," Lorne replied.

"Why not? Come on its only one scan and it's for one of my charges pleeease," she begged. Lorne was the only one who ever made her beg.

"And how do you think will make him sing for me?"

She gave him a shocked look but replied, "I don't need or want his destiny read I just want his basic aura scanned."

Lorne just looked at her with a puzzled look on his face before he asked, "Then why do you need me? There are about ten people, in San Francisco alone, I can name that can scan auras."

Sandra moved next to him and bumped him with her hip. "Yes there are other and probably better aura readers out there, but I trust you." She gave him a piercing look and said, "In all the time we've known each other you have never let me down. I can't say the same for some of my other friends."

Lorne looked at her for a long time before letting out a sigh and nodding his head said, "Let me grab my coat."

Before he could get out the door Sandra yelled to him, "And a hat. Don't forget a hat he's probably being extra cautious tonight."

"How do I get myself into these messes is beyond me," he said walking out the door.

Sandra smirked to herself. She knew just how to manipulate Lorne. What she said was true she trusted Lorne completely she just hadn't told him everything. There were other aura readers that were just as good if not better; however, Lorne always kept things confidential. Once a couple of years ago he was attacked in this very bar. The people who did it wanted to know the destiny of one of his clients. He held on for almost two days before she was able to find him, and kill those sorry lawyers. Since her healing touch doesn't work on demons she stayed with him till he was able to move.

She had a feeling that whatever he found in Alex's aura was going to be big, so she wanted to use the one person who she knew could be trusted to take secrets to the grave. She heard a shuffling sound and saw Lorne in a long trench coat dark sun glassed and large hat that cast his face into shadow.

"Good we can get going. He should be heading off to work soon so we'll hide in the alley next to the bar to lower our chances of being seen," she told her friend.

Lorne let out another sigh before nodding his head and grabbing her arm. With that they orbed into the alley to wait for Xander.

"Ugh did we have to wait here it's disgusting and smells like babies' diapers and vomit," Lorne complained.

"Yes now be quiet he should be here any minute," Sandra replied.

Five minutes later she saw Xander walk past. She gave Lorne a tap on the shoulder to tell him that was the guy. She saw Xander pause and look around, so she quickly pulled Lorne deeper into the shadows.

'I forgot that he can sense me' she thought to herself.

Xander gave one last look at the alleyway before speeding up and heading into the bar. Sandra stepped out of the shadows with Lorne and looked at him expectantly. She was shocked to see his eyes had bugged out and his mouth was moving up and down like a fish out of water.

"Damn girl you sure know how to pick 'em," was all he said.

"What is it what did you see?" she demanded.

Lorne looked around and shook his head. "Not here," he told her.

She grabbed his hand and orbed them to his office at Caritas. She sat down in the chair in front of the desk and just looked at him. Lorne, meanwhile, had grabbed a glass and quickly filled it up with an amber colored liquid. He threw that one back before quickly pouring another one.

"Lorne," she said with a look that said tell me now or I'll beat it out of you.

He looked at her for a moment before he shook his head. "You said he's lived on the Sunnydale Hellmouth his entire life?" he asked. Seeing her nod he just shook his head and said "double damn."

He finally looked up and pulled himself together. After looking at his half empty glass he put it down and pulled out a flask from the bottom drawer of his desk. Sandra looked at it and asked "that bad huh?" He just gave her a nod.

"Your boy has one of the 'Whitest' auras I've ever seen."

She just looked at him in shock. "You don't mean…"

"Yeah sugar. I'm not 100% certain but my monies on you having yourself a genuine white knight," he said before taking a long drink from the flask.

Sandra just sat there for a long time before grabbing the flask and taking a drink herself. "Thank you Lorne. I'm sure I don't have to tell you to keep this to yourself." At his nod she stood up and orbed away.

"Kid I wish you the best of luck you have a tough road ahead of you. At least you have one of the best White Lighters watching your back," he said to himself before heading back into the bar. He had a business to run.


	3. Chapter 3

**6. Chapter 6**

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

**Upper Realms  
**

Sandra orbed behind a pillar when she went to make her report. She did not want to be mobbed like she was last time. Not with a possible White Knight on her hands. She pulled up her hood while she peaked around the pillar looking for Elder Zola. Perhaps Lady Luck hated her that day because when she found him he was talking with Elder Odin, and Elder Odin was a windbag.

"Elders may I speak with you in private," Sandra said as she approached them.

Elder Odin had an affronted look on his face at being interrupted, but Elder Zola placed a calming hand on his shoulder and with a pensive expression led the way to a secluded corner.

"What's Wrong Sandra? You would never request a private meeting unless there was a problem," Elder Zola asked.

Sandra removed her hood and looked at her favorite Elder then her least favorite Elder. She took a deep breath before beginning her explanation.

"Today was the day that I was having my friend read Alex's aura, and the results were distressing to say the least," she began. "My friend is not the strongest aura reader, he is better with destinies or paths, but he would take a secret to the grave, and almost did. I chose him because I was getting weird feeling from what little I could sense from Alex's aura, and I knew I could count on him to keep it too himself."

"Sandra, why are you trying so hard to justify your choice of aura reader?" Elder Zola questioned.

Sandra had been doing her best to avoid their eyes, but she forced herself to look up. "Because the reader I used is the Pylean demon who runs the demon bar Caritas in LA."

Elder Odin started spluttering, "Are you crazy? You used a demon how can you think demons be trusted."

"Enough Odin," Elder Zola said. "I know of this demon. He frequently works for the powers that be to place their champions on the right path. Your choice of readers was most excellent, Sandra."

Sandra and Odin just looked at Elder Zola in shock. For once they agreed on something. It took a few minutes but Sandra finally said, "Thank you Elder Zola for your approval."

Now normally Sandra never seeks approval from anyone. Even though she's now a White Lighter she was still a Slayer and it seems most Slayers have an I don't care what you think of me attitude; however, Zola had always been a type of father figure for her. Her parents had died early in her life and her watcher was a woman, so she never had a father figure in her life until Elder Zola.

Elder Zola just smiled at her and said, "So what did this reader find in young Alexander's aura that was so distressing?"

"When Lorne had read Alex's aura he was shocked that he grew up on the Hellmouth. When I questioned him further he told me that he was 100% certain but there was a good chance that my boy was a White Knight." She paused and waited for the explosion she knew would happen.

"Are you sure?" Elder Odin asked. Surprisingly he was being calm and not flying off the handle like Sandra thought he would.

"No, he was not certain but it is very likely," she answered.

Elder Odin turned to Zola and asked, "Will you check it out or should I?"

Elder Zola looked at him for a moment before shaking his head and saying, "I will do it. My skills might be rusty but I am still the strongest, among the Elders, at reading auras."

Sandra was shocked. Not only was Elder Odin being civil, but they were talking about going to Earth and reading Alex's aura for themselves. The Elders never get involved with a White Lighters Charge.

Sandra stepped forward and asked, "Why? I know that White Knights are great forces of good but why involve yourselves like this?"

Both of the Elders looked at each other before Odin bowed his head to Zola.

"Sandra, one thing you need to know about White Knights is that the mundane and magical Knights are very different," Elder Zola began. "Mundane White Knights are powerful forces of good and strive to change the world. Martin Luther King Jr. fought for civil rights and equality; while Mother Teresa fought for the sick and the poor. Both of them were tremendous forces of good; however, magical White Knights tend to be different."

At this point Elder Odin took up the story.

"Magical White Knights are even rarer than their mundane counterparts," he began. "Magical White Knights also tend to be extremely powerful. The most well known in recent times are Merlin and Melinda Warren. White Knights have always been targeted in one form or the other. The most common, and favorite tactic is conversion."

Seeing Sandra's blank look prompted Elder Zola to explain. "White Knights are the strongest warriors for the forces of the light, but even though there powerful they are still human. Evil has always tried to steal our warriors from us, and sometimes they succeed. Evil's crowning glory is when they can turn a White Knight. That great force of good can easily turn into a terrible force of evil."

Sandra's face had slowly paled during the explanation and the implications this meant for her charge.

"If what this demon believes is true then your charge just had a target painted on his back," Elder Odin said. "So it is imperative that we keep this quiet," he continued.

"I understand," Sandra said. "So let us go and meet your charge. When I've read his aura if he is a White Knight you must begin his training immediately; however, do not tell him about his status. What he doesn't know can't be revealed after all," Elder Zola Said before taking Sandra's hand and orbing out.

_AUTHORS NOTE: Ok so I hope this chapter explained things about the White Knight a little better. I'm planning on hitting a few more points later in the story but if there's something you don't understand just give me a review and I'll try to answer any questions I can._

The story is going to start moving towards more Xander-Centered now.

**7. Chapter 7**

Xander was having a bad day. First he came up with nothing on the mysterious being that rescued him. Then on his way to work the feeling that he was being watched came back for a while. That set him on edge, but the icing on the cake was when he got into work.

He had no sooner than walked in the door before he was stopped by Mike. Apparently he wasn't allowed to work in a bar no matter if he was drinking or not. Mike had kindly been reminded of this fact when his competition informed the police that a new bartender was in town. Mike had told him he was the best bartender he ever had and when he was 21 to come back anytime and he had a job, but he couldn't afford to lose his business. Mike had been kind enough to give him a month's salary, but that still meant he was out of a job.

So here he was trudging back to his hotel room moping for himself when it started to rain. "Come on! Really, does someone up there hate me," Xander shouted at the sky.

"Actually quite the opposite in fact," a voice said from behind him.

Xander whirled around sending a dagger spinning towards a robbed man standing in the shadows. The man never even flinched when suddenly a girl stepped in front of him and caught the dagger before it could hit the man in the golden robe.

"Now that wasn't very nice now was it Alex," the girl that caught the dagger said.

Xander was stunned. Not only did these strangers sneak up behind him without him noticing, but the girl caught his dagger in the air. Only Buffy could do that! Add that to the fact that she obviously knew his name, and he was understandably off balance.

"Ha Ha you should see your face," she said.

"Sandra enough he is understandably upset we did just appear out of nowhere. Give the poor boy a break," the robbed man said.

The girl Xander now knew was named Sandra gave the man a sheepish look, but then nodded. She looked back at Xander and held up her hands in an obvious show of peace.

"Where not here to hurt you, but can we get out of the rain. What we have to tell you is quite a long story and I'd rather not catch a cold telling it to you," Sandra said.

Xander gave her a long look before finally nodding his head. To Sandra it seemed like he was looking into her soul peeling back the layers until he saw her very core. It was a nerve racking experience which she never wanted to repeat again. When he finally nodded his head she let out a sigh of relief. The other man just gave a slight little smile and started heading for Xander's hotel room. Oddly enough Xander wasn't surprised that they knew where he was staying.

Xander was in a haze. It felt like his head was wrapped in wool. There were too many shocks to his system in one day for his mind to handle. Sandra noticed this and just shook her head it's a shame the shocks weren't over yet. When they finally got to his door he walked in and then stepped to the side not actually inviting them in. The man stepped right on in, but Sandra gave him a smirk as she stepped through the door.

Xander never even realized what he was doing as he sat down. He was just working on autopilot. Both of the guests took the only two chairs in the room leaving him to sit on t bed.

"My name is Zola and the lady next to me is Sandra," Zola began.

Xander nodded his head and motioned for them to continue.

"Before we get too far into this story I need to tell you that we know about the Hellmouth and your part in keeping it shut," Sandra said. Xander looked up at that but other than that he showed no other sign of being shocked.

Sandra smiled at him and began her story, "Now you know about the Hellmouth, but there are other supernatural forces than the one you are most familiar with. In the world they're witch practitioners, people who study Wicca and become witches, and then they're natural born witches, people who are born into magical families. Natural witches are always from a family line and will have an inborn power that needs no incantation to use."

For once Xander wasn't cracking a joke he just nodded and asked, "So Willow is a witch practitioner?"

Zola smiled and said, "Yes, while she is a powerful practitioner she will never have an active power, however, she will probably produce her own line of witches if she ever has children. All natural witch lines start with an exceptionally strong practitioner at their head."

Xander continued nodding and stood up and started pacing in the small space. "What does all this have to do with me," he asked?

"I'll get to that," Sandra answered. "Now all natural witches have Guardian Angels or White Lighters that watch over them and guide and train them in their powers. White lighters are led by a group of stronger White Lighters called Elders. I am a White Lighter while Zola is an Elder."

At this point Zola took up the explanation. "Now no natural witch can work on an active Hellmouth. The corruptive energies that it constantly puts off will either seal the lines powers or corrupt them to the point that they become the very thing that they fight demons."

Xander stopped his pacing and looked up "Willow," he managed to gasp out. Seeing his panic Sandra stood up and led him back to the bed. "Relax she's a practitioner not a natural. While the energy does affect her it doesn't have as much of an effect as it would on a natural," she said.

Once Xander had calmed down enough to listen Zola continued his explanation. "Now as I was saying the Hellmouth's energies have a very negative effect on natural born witches as such we, the Elders, generally leave the Hellmouth's to the powers that be; even our White Lighters risk turning into a Dark Lighter if they stay on one too long the exception being the White Lighters who worked on the Hellmouth before they joined our ranks."

Xander had calmed down and he could finally start processing what was being explained to him, however he still didn't understand why this applied to him. "You don't want me to talk to Willow for you because you said practitioners don't get White Lighters, so why are you here?" he asked.

The two angels shared a look before Sandra stood up and started pacing. "This is going to be the hard part of the explanation, but just bear with me," she said. Looking over at him Sandra saw him nod. She took a deep breath before she began.

"This part is more of a history lesson so no sleeping," she joked. Xander just looked at her he wasn't in the mood for jokes. "Fine everyone's a critic I swear. Anyway natural witch lines have become increasingly rare, and for the one that are still around their magic has waned in some cases disappeared completely. While for the most part this isn't that big a deal some lines are more important than others. The Halliwell line is one such line. They are the strongest line of witches and have just produced The Power of Three."

You could tell that was a big deal, but Xander had no clue what it meant. When he looked at Zola he Explained, "The Power of Three is a prophesied group of witches with almost unstoppable power and one of the strongest forces of good magic there is." Xander smiled for the first time that night and looked back at Sandra.

Giving Zola an annoyed look she continued her "history lesson". "Well, like I was saying their line is an ancient and powerful one, however there are others. For time's sake we'll only focus on the important one the Aiken line. When they were active they were just as powerful as the Halliwell line, however, one was a great seer and after one of her visions moved her family to the Hellmouth. No one knows what she saw all we knew was that the entire family moved. We had reports that the master had been sealed in the Hellmouth but we heard nothing on the whereabouts of the Aiken line until a couple weeks ago when one of their descendants rode to San Francisco on a bus." When she finished her story she looked over at Xander.

Xander sat on the bed processing everything for a minute before he started laughing. Zola and Sandra were shocked they weren't expecting laughter. Denial yes, joy maybe, but defiantly not laughter. They let it go on for a while before they realized it was hysterical laughter at which point Sandra walked up and slapped him in the face.

Still chuckling a little he said "thanks I needed that."

Xander knew they weren't joking he had always been able to tell when someone was lying and they had been telling the truth the entire time. Then he looked up and asked a very important question, "So what happens now."

"Now young Alexander I'm going to let your White Lighter explain everything else I have an appointment to keep," Elder Zola said before orbing out.

"Wait he never told me who my White Lighter is," Xander said. Sandra just gave him a look that said 'are you that big of an idiot'. He saw this and gulped. Defiantly reminds me of Buffy he thought. "So I take it from the glare that you're my White Lighter.

Sandra gave him a smirk that sent shivers down his spine and nodded her head. "I'm going to tell you this now, Alex, I will train you to hunt and kill demons with weapons, powers, or barehanded, but by the end of the week you'll hate me," Sandra said still wearing that smirk.

'Yep I'm doomed' he thought before asking when they would start.

"Well first we'll get you out of this crap hole you call a hotel then we'll start on meditation and finding out what your powers are. After we know that I'll know how to set up your training schedule, so not for a while yet."

Xander almost let out a sigh relief, but a couple years of watching Giles and Buffy train taught him that that would just make the training come faster and harder.

"Stay here for a couple of days at least until I can find an apartment and you can move in with me," she said.

Xander just shook his head and let out a massive yawn. Seeing this Sandra's eyes softened and she started heading for the door.

"Get some rest Alex you've had a long day. Everything will look better in the morning and I'll be by to check on you and start meditation tomorrow." With that she walked out shutting the lights off and closing the door. Xander was out before he hit the pillow.

Upper Realms

Sandra orbed into the cloudy corner where she had talked to Elders Odin and Zola earlier. The marble pillars and thick fog like clouds made this spot perfect for a private conversation. The other two Elders were already their when she orbed in.

"Well?" she asked.

"Young Alexander is in fact a White Knight," Elder Zola said.

"Damn," Elder Odin exclaimed.

AUTHORS NOTE: Okay I wasn't really happy with this chapter and it was by far the hardest for me to write so I would appreciate all the feedback you can give me. Thanks.


	4. Chapter 4

**8. Chapter 8**

Disclaimer: Buffy and Charmed are not owned by me.

"Again."

Xander let out a growl as he got off the ground and got in his fighting stance again. Xander and Sandra had been training for three weeks now and you could already see results. Thanks to his soldier memories he was picking up the fighting styles and stances at an incredible rate. His hyena possession had some side effects also. His muscles had been enhanced so that the benefits from any training or exercise are more than doubled, and she had been working him hard. All of this really helped with the physical side of his training; however, his magical training was another story.

/Flashback/

"Focus, Alex, your power is there you just have to find it," Sandra told him.

"I'm trying but it would help if I knew what my power was," Xander practically growled out.

Sandra opened her eyes to see his clenched shut in concentration and anger. "I told you all witched are different. There is no way to tell what your power is until you use it. All I know is that you have already used it, and since you can't remember what is was we have to use meditation to find your trigger," she said.

Xander took a deep breath. He knew she was right but he hated sitting still. Letting his breath out and then in he slowly calmed himself. 'Focus' he thought. 'I've already done this I just have to figure out how'. As he was breathing a memory came back of a dream he had. He began to see the shadow men again just jumping around him. He started to panic 'this isn't supposed to be happening is it' he thought to himself.

Sandra watched as her young charge dropped into a trance and breathed a sigh of relief. That is until she saw the panicked look on his face. She started to get up and rouse him from his trance, but then the look changed to one of anger and the air started getting warmer. The last thing she saw was a wave of fire heading towards her.

Xander was just about to call out to Sandra when he realized he was scared of shadows. SHADOWS! Then he got angry. Suddenly he felt that spark over his heart that seemed to ignite a wildfire. He mentally pushed that fire out at all the shadow men in a wave of force. With that he opened his eyes and saw the warehouse they were in burning and Sandra buried under a pile of charred wood and barrels. Xander managed to get her out of the warehouse and out of sight by the time the firemen got there.

/End Flashback/

That had just been the beginning. After they found his trigger he then had to focus it and channel his magic to do what he wanted. Unfortunately his trigger was anger and anger is really hard to control. Every time he used his power it immediately got out of hand and he couldn't stop it not to mention that now that he had actively use his power every time he got angry he would either get really hot or things would randomly catch on fire. All in all his active power sucked.

The other aspects of his magic were going pretty well. He could now rhyme like a pro and could probably make a potion out of things found in a girl's purse. Ok probably not the last one but he was getting pretty good.

Xander didn't know what he would do without Sandra. She had helped him so much already just by training him, but had also saved his life.

Xander had been able to convince her to let him stay in his hotel it just didn't seem right to move in with her. However three days into his training he was attacked in his hotel room.

/Flashback/

BANG!

Xander rolled out of bed just as the fireball that had been aimed for his head hit his bed. Xander peeked over the side of his bed to see a huge demon with three horns and really sharp teeth. Its skin was blue with black swirls everywhere, but what caught his attention were the blue fireballs it had in its hand.

Xander ducked down behind the bed as a fireball flew past it. All of a sudden the bed was flung against the other wall and Xander looking up at the smiling demon.

"Ah I caught myself a tasty little witch. Let's make him scream," it said as it started to reach for Xander. But Xander was raised on the Hellmouth and had fought side by side with the Slayer, so reached up and grabbed the demons arm and flipped him over his head. Rolling out of the he ran into his weapon bag. Xander grabbed his sword and charged the demon. Seeing this the demon smirked and sidestepped the swing and punched Xander in the stomach causing him to double over. Then he was grabbed by his throat and slammed against the wall.

"Bad little witch. I don't like it when my food fights back," it said still smirking.

Xander couldn't break the things grip and its skin was like leather. All Xander could do was gasp out one word.

"S…Sa…Sandra"

The demon never saw the orbing blue lights or the ax that took off its head.

/End Flashback/

After that little episode he moved in with her and Sandra stepped up the training. It wasn't as bad as he thought. She was like the sister he never had and sometimes the mother he wished he had. Sandra for her part was surprised at the affection she had for her charge. She found herself treating him like a brother and she liked it.

They didn't just train like crazy they had fun too. Sandra showed Xander around the city and some of its best attractions. She also managed to get him into a few clubs. All she could do was smirk when he told her P3 was his favorite.

Despite all the training they were doing Sandra still wouldn't let him fight some actual demons at least not until he could use his power in a fight, and that was what they were trying to do now. Their plan was to get him angry enough in a fight to bring out his powers but hopefully in a more controlled flow.

Xander took a calming breath and then charged her again. He threw a right hook, which she ducked, followed up by a kick aimed for her stomach. She grabbed his leg his leg and jerked him off his feet. Xander landed with a thump and suddenly saw red. The next thing he knew there was a fireball in his hand and he flung it as Sandra.

Sandra saw the fireball and started to smile 'we did it' she thought. Then she saw it coming right for her and barely had enough time to orb out of the way. When she finally solidified both her and Xander were smiling.

"Ha ha you did it," she said. "Now we just have to get you to do it without getting tossed around for half the day," she continued.

Xander's smile fell and he groaned. "Just once can't it be good job Xander now let's take a break or call it a day," he whined.

"No because I refuse to call you that childish nickname and because you still have a long way to go."

That was one thing they always argued on his name. Xander was uncomfortable with his full name he didn't feel like he deserved it. 'Protector of Man' indeed, but she refused to call him Xander saying that it was a childish nickname that demeaned his value as a warrior.

He laughed at her when she told him this but immediately shut up when he saw her giving him the death glare.

/Flashback/

"You fight demons because it is the right thing to do. You face down evils that make grown men and women wet themselves. You do all this without your heritage and without other powers. You are a warrior Alex in every sense of the word, and don't let anyone tell you different," she said.

All Xander could do was stare at her and nod his head. He had walked back to his room in a slight daze. 'No one has ever said anything like that to me before' he thought to himself. He went to bed that night with a smile on his face.

/End Flashback/

"However I guess we can call it a day you have been working hard," she said.

"Yippee," Xander said doing the snoopy dance.

"Ha ha come on you goof. So how's the anger management?" she asked.

That was a major problem he had. Xander has never considered himself an angry person, but when you suddenly start setting things on fire when you're the least bit angry it forces you to do some soul searching. The first couple of days after his powers activated had been the hardest every time he got the slightest bit upset they had another burn mark somewhere. Meditation worked for a while but he was still setting things ablaze every once in a while, so Sandra got him some tapes on anger management and a stress ball.  
The ball didn't last very long. The first time he tried to use it it melted in his hands. The tapes however were a big help he hadn't set anything on fire in two day and he told her just that.

"I'm glad for a while there I thought we would have to move out of the city or risk lives living in an apartment," Sandra said. She bumped him with her hip before saying, "Come on I'll race you to the car." With that she orbed out.

"Hey that's no fair you're cheating," Xander yelled as he raced after her.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: ok so one more time jump before we get to the main part of the story.

**9. Chapter 9**

"Alex duck!"

Xander dove for the ground just as a fireball flew over his head. He had learned not to question Sandra when she told him to do something or it could mean a lot of pain for him. They had been fighting some low level demons when one had thrown a dagger at him. Sandra had told him to duck then too, but instead of listening he turned around instead. The dagger had dug into his right shoulder cutting right to the bone. Thank God for White Lighters especially Sandra. She had killed the demons then healed his shoulder. Unfortunately he had to sit through a lecture on listening to her while in a battle situation while she healed him.

Xander jumped up from his crouch and launched a stream of fire at the Scavenger Demon that had thrown the fireball. He nailed it right in the just and paused just long enough to make sure it burst into flames before moving on to the next target.

That's another thing that had changed. He had managed to control his fire power over the last couple of weeks.

/Flashback/

"Come on Alex focus channel the power from your heart into the palm of your hand," Sandra told him.

Xander sat in the middle of another abandoned warehouse with his legs folded in a lotus position with his eyes closed and beads of sweat rolling down his face. As he sat there he could feel the heat just behind his heart flickering back and forth like a candle flame, but slowly he coaxed it down his arm towards his palm.

"Alex look you did it," Sandra shouted.

When Xander looked down at his hand there was a ball of orange and red flame about the size of one of his stress balls. He looked up at Sandra with a wide grin and lobbed the ball towards a pile of wood were it exploded sending wood shards in every direction. When Xander and Sandra looked at each other they both had maniacal grins on their faces and started laughing.

"Demons better watch out cause with this kind of fire power they don't stand a chance," Xander said while smirking until a hand wacked him on the back of the head.

"Don't get cocky," Sandra told him. "Some demons are fireproof or need a vanquishing spell to kill. While your power is strong you shouldn't rely on it that leads to laziness and death."

Xander gave her a somber look before nodding his head.

"Now that took you way too long try again only faster," she told him. Xander let out a groan before getting back into position to try again.

/End Flashback/

With the training Sandra was putting Xander through he quickly got a better handle on his powers. While not fully mastered his witch studies had progressed extremely well. He now knew various potions to vanquish demons, cure injuries, and other helpful brews. While he would never be a master he could still create some effective spells given enough time. Sandra had him create and memorize some helpful spells and generic vanquishing spells to use in a pinch. The physical aspect of his training was where he excelled. He was in top physical condition now and had studied basics in various forms of martial arts, but while he excelled in that his power was still slightly unstable. Sure he could use it and use it effectively, but it would still get away from him sometimes and still occasionally popped up when he was angry. His firepower was really awesome though he could make it into a stream of fire or into a compact fireball, or as he liked to call them firebombs because when they hit anything they blew up in a small explosion proportional to the size of the ball.

When Sandra finally deemed Xander ready she gave him his families Book of Shadows.

/Flashback/

Xander was in the living room of their apartment with the furniture pushed to the side doing some basic katas when Sandra walked in. She sat down on the couch placing a brown sack beside her.

"Alex sit down for a minute please," she asked.

When Xander was finally sitting in front of her she paused for a moment before taking a deep breath.

"Alex you have been training extremely hard these past few weeks. Honestly you're the most driven and hardworking student I've ever had. You've shown me that you can listen and take direction but you also know how to think on your feet and use all of your resources to make sure you come home at the end of the day alive and relatively unharmed. It's because of this that I'm finally convinced that you're ready to go out and fight the demons that are corrupting this world."

Xander had a smile on his face and was almost bouncing with excitement. Sandra knew how hard it was on him to sit at home training knowing that there were demons out there killing innocents and he wasn't there to save them. It had taken a lot of fast talking to convince him that he was useless to anyone if he was killed because he lacked the necessary training.

She smiled at him before picking up the sack and started to pull something out of it.

"Now Alex what I am about to give you is a very dangerous weapon and a demon magnet." She pulled out a black leather bound book. It was a little scuffed up and the pages were a sort of yellowish color that only really old books had. The back cover had three slashes on it from what could only be claws. On the front cover was an all seeing eye. Xander could feel the power coming off of this book and it resonated with his powers. Xander found his hand start to reach out for the book without him being aware of it.

Sandra had a little smirk on her face before she said, "Take it Alex it's yours. This is the Aiken families Book of Shadows. In it is information on hundreds of demons various vanquishing potions and spells and other magical knowledge that your family had gathered over the years."

When Xander finally touched the book the pages started glowing and he heard a rushing sound in his ears. A sharp pain in his finger touching the book snapped him out of it and when he looked down he saw the carved eye looked real and was staring right at him. Its pupil glowed silver for a moment and seemed to look right through him before going back to a simple metal decoration.

Xander looked up at Sandra and asked, "What just happened?"

"Book of Shadows have so much magic that they become almost sentient. The book simply tested you to see if you were really an Aiken witch," Sandra said. "And if I wasn't," he asked?

"Then it would have tried to kill you. Unlike the Halliwell's Book of Shadows evil can touch it so it has other fail-safe's to keep it out of evil hands and the blood and intent tests are two of those."

"Intent tests," Xander questioned? Sandra let out a long suffering sigh. Sometimes Alex's inquisitive nature was more of a curse than a blessing at least for her.

"When the eye looked at you read your mind or at least skimmed it to learn your intentions. Will you use the book for good or evil that sort of thing," Sandra answered.

"Two more questions, what's with the eye and why is this a demon magnet," Xander asked?

"The all seeing eye is a symbol of your family. In the past your family has tended to produce some of the strongest seers and prophets. Other than that the most common magic in your family was mind magic's reading minds, empaths, and hypnosis. The reason it's a demon magic is because knowledge is power. If a demon got its hands on this book it would know how to vanquish any of its opponents and could learn how to counter potions and other magic that can be used on it."

Xander took the book and started looking through it. Sandra left him there but when she got up in the morning and he was still reading he got an earful about the reason a body needs sleep and rest.

/End Flashback/

Xander dodged another fireball before twisting and stabbing his daggers into another demons neck. When he looked up he saw Sandra twist the neck of the last demon turning it into a pile of blue goo.

"Well that was invigorating," she said.

Xander just smiled and wiped the sweat off his face with the bottom of his shirt.

"Let's go home and clean up before heading out for dinner. Oh we can try that new Japanese steak house," she said before grabbing his arm and orbing away.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 10**

Disclaimer: I don't own buffy or charmed. I wish I did but it's not happening.

Xander groaned as he slowly opened his eyes. God did anyone get the license plate of the car that just ran me over he thought to himself.

He was trying to remember what he was doing before he was knocked out. Ok think Xander what were you doing before now what's the last thing you can remember.

Thinking back the last thing he could remember was getting rid of some Dracul demons that were holed up in an abandoned house. Draculs were tough little bastards their hide was scaled and almost as magic resistant as dragon hide and nearly as hard to cut. Unfortunately for them their only attack was breathing fire which thanks to his powers was kind of pathetic. It was pretty easy to get in. the windows were boarded up and the back door was blocked by some boxes and other garbage. Before the raid Sandra had him examine his Book of Shadows for any information on Dracul demons. According to the book Dracul demons drew their fire power from the sun and are said to be bastard children of a dragon and a demonness. There wasn't a spell or potion to vanquish the demons since no Aiken witch had come across them before so Sandra and Xander were forced to resort to brute force and magic both of which are extremely ineffective against Draculs. Since Draculs were weakest at night and Sandra and Xander would be better hidden in the shadows they attacked at night. Xander broke down the door by lobbing a condensed fireball at it blowing it off its hinges. Xander and Sandra knew that the demons were stronger than them and tougher so Xander got a chance to write his first spell to give them an advantage so while Sandra charged forward to confront the demons Xander started chanting.

_For those whose senses can't be beat  
Fill their noses with the smell of rotten meat  
Fill their ears with a constant ring  
And blind their eyes with white lightning_

Ok so it wasn't the best spell but it had an obvious effect on the Draculs. When Xander put in that part about lightning he just couldn't think of anything else that was bright enough to blind something he never expected for lightning to actually form in midair and strike each Dracul in the eyes. Turns out their eyes aren't as magic resistant as the rest of them. With the Draculs effectively blinded and with their nose full of the smell of rotten meat and a constant ringing in their ears Xander and Sandra were effectively invisible to them. Of course it wasn't as simple as that. Since the Draculs were completely blind they started flailing wildly hoping to his something while a couple of them started breathing fire towards Sandra. Xander stepped up and beat back their fire with a fire stream from his own hands. While Xander was battling three of the Draculs fire breath Sandra was able to sneak up on the other four and stab them in the brain through their already damaged eye killing them instantly. Once she was done she was able to sneak up on one of the Draculs fighting Xander and snap its neck giving Xander enough leeway to fight back the fire breath and overwhelm the last Draculs bathing them in his fire. Seeing that he had them covered in his flames Xander turned up the heat and cooked them to a crisp. Once he was done the smell was horrible but they had a job to do so Xander and Sandra split up to search the rooms to make sure all of the Dracul were dead and they didn't have any hostages or late night snacks stashed away.

Once all the rooms were cleared Xander and Sandra met back up in the living room were Xander took a much needed breather while Sandra cleaned her daggers off. Using that much fire for that long took a lot out of Xander especially since he had just cast a spell and has only recently learned to use his powers this goes a long was with explaining why when Sandra was knocked into the other room that Xander didn't react as quickly as he should have been able to. Before he knew it a big demon who reminded him of a Minotaur grabbed him by the throat and started strangling him. The demon had the lower body of a bull with an upper body of a really muscled man with two horns looping off at the sides of his head wearing only a loincloth. The demon was big and strong and despite Xander's best efforts he couldn't call forth his fire he was literally tapped out of power.

"Now now Jorka we need him alive just knock him out for now," a voice called from the shadows.

The last thing Xander saw before his head painfully collided with the floor was a strangely dressed man. The man or demon had stepped out of the shadows and looked strangely normal except for his dress. He had hair down to his shoulders with lots of gray in it giving it the salt and pepper look. His face was lined with wrinkles signifying his age, but by far the weirdest thing was that he was wearing an honest to god robe. Seriously it was like the guy had stepped out of a Harry Potter book. It was gray with weird geometric designs and looked like it was alive. It actually looked like it was made out of solid smoke this same material covered his eyes giving the appearance that he was blind.

So I've been kidnapped well that sucks Xander thought to himself. Well might as well look around.

Looking up from his spot on the floor Xander noticed the walls were made of rock and the floor was dirt. Moving his arms a little proved that they were chained above his head. Looking around the actual room he was in Xander saw another body. It was too dark to make out any features but it looked like it had some curves so he assumed it was a woman. Judging by the way her arms were held above her head made Xander think she was a prisoner just like him. Taking his eyes off the woman he looked around the room some more. It was dark so he couldn't see much but what he could made him think he was in a manmade cave. The walls looked carved and were to smooth to be natural. To Xander's left and the woman's right there was an old looking wooden door with only a small window in the top covered with bars.

So judging from my surrounding and who I think abducted me I'm in the underworld held captive with another prisoner. Great just great how do you get yourself into these messes Xander thought to himself.

Ok Xander now time to figure out why they grabbed you and didn't kill you. Ok you're a witch so they could want your powers. Xander immediately through that idea out if it was true then they could have just stabbed him with an athame and absorbed his powers from that.

Ok so power theft is out how about ransom. He thought about it for a minute but couldn't think of anyone that they could ransom him too. If he was still in Sunnydale he would assume it was to get to buffy but she made it perfectly clear what she thought of him. They only person he knows in San Francisco were Sandra and she couldn't pay for his release. She could try to save him but the Elders would be hard pressed to give anything to demons for one witch.

So ransom was out what did that leave?

It was at that time that Xander heard a groan from across from him. He looked up and saw that the body of the woman was moving she was apparently waking up. When she was finally fully awake and had enough time to get her bearing he spoke up.

"Hi how's it going" he said with a dorky smile that she probably couldn't see.

She looked up and you could almost feel the glare she was giving him. "How do you think it's going? I was jumped by some demons on my way home only to wake up hear chained to a wall with my powers somehow blocked," she ranted.

"Whoa no need to get snarky I was just trying to lighten the mood, but now that you mention it I can't feel my powers either," Xander said.

The woman took a deep breath then apologized; "I'm sorry it's just uuhg" she trailed off.

Xander gave her another goofy grin which she still couldn't see and asked, "So is this your first kidnapping? Oh by the way the names Xander."

The woman snorted "Now this is sad most people would find that question weird but not me unfortunately no this is not my first kidnapping. You? Oh I'm Paige by the way."

"Well it is a pleasure to meet you Paige but yes this is my first. I had some friends who've been kidnapped but I've never been the actual kidnappy before. Any idea what they want cause I'm drawing a blank," Xander asked.

Paige let out a sigh before she replied "If it was just me I would think that they were trying to get to my sisters but with you here it could be a couple of reasons."

"So your sisters are witches too," Xander asked?

"My two sisters and I are what is known as The Charmed Ones. We are said to be the strongest magical coven in the world and so we get into these kinds of situations all the time."

"Cool Sandra mentioned you guys from time to time it's kind of cool to actually meet a Charmed One in person though I wish it was under better circumstances."

"Who's Sandra your girlfriend," Paige said wiggling her eyebrows which he couldn't see.

Xander started spluttering, "What of course not if anything she's more of a mother or an annoying older sister to me. No she's my Whitelighter."

"As fun as this chat has been we should probably try to get out of here," Paige said.

"Well what do you suggest our powers are somehow blocked were in the underworld were our Whitelighters can't hear our calls and we have no idea why or who abducted us," Xander replied.

"Uh your right you know maybe just our active powers are block we might be able to write a spell to get us out of these chains. It's either the chains that are blocking our powers or the cell we're in," Paige said.

Xander looked around the cell one more time and then up at the chains around his wrists. "You know I think it's the chains," he finally said.

"What makes you say that?"

"Well from what I can see of the room there is nothing magical about it. Sue it was man or demon made but there are no runes or crystals nothing that looks like it can form a barrier strong enough to bind a witch's active power especially a charmed one. The chains on the other hand have tiny runes carved into them. I can't really make them out and even if I could I wouldn't be able to tell you what they are but they're definitely magical," Xander explained while still trying to get a better look at the runes.

Sure enough as Paige looked closer at her own chains she could see some runes winding around the cuffs and up into the actual chain.

"Xander you're probably right about the chains so do you have any ideas about a spell to get us out of here," she asked?

"Hey I've only been an active witch for a few weeks I've only had time to write one spell. I mean sure the spell worked but it took me two hours to come up with that especially since Sandra wouldn't help me saying 'all good witches should learn to write their own spells'," Xander finished his rant with a mocking impression of Sandra's voice.

Paige was shocked this boy or man had only been a witch for a couple of weeks yet he was handling his first kidnapping like a pro. It took her almost a year to gain the kind of calm that she had now and this man was acting like this was a Sunday morning stroll through the park. She shook her head to gain more focus and started a chant off of the top of her head

_Chains that hold our powers back  
Start to shiver and start to crack_

At this point Xander got a burst of inspiration and joined in.

_Release us now from your evil grasp  
And become nothing but a memory from our past_

Surprisingly the spell worked and the chains started to glow blue then white and cracks started to form all around it until with a final shudder the chains disintegrated into dust. Both Xander and Paige looked at each other with wide eyes neither of them expected that to actually work.

"Thanks for the assist Xander but now I think it's time to get out of here," with that Paige grabbed his hand and orbed out just as the door to their cell opened.

The grey robed man arrived at his prisoners' cell just in time to see them orb away.

"Damn it," he said before storming off yelling for Jorka.

**Chapter 11**

The sun was shining, birds were singing, cars on the street were honking, and Sandra was waving her hand to find her alarm clock. 'Where is that damn clock it's too early to wake up with a headache like this' she thought.

'Wait' Sandra shot up from her position on a collapsed sofa that broke her fall when that demon backhanded her. She almost immediately regretted it when her headache hit her full force. As she held her head and waited for her headache to fade she tried to think back to the last thing she remembers.

'Ok you and Alex just finished killing all of the Dracul demons and you were cleaning off your daggers then…. nothing just pain and then waking up here.' 'Ok so from past experiences I was knocked out and Alex was tired from all of the magic he performed so he was either captured or killed' at this point Sandra started panicking. Luckily for her she's dealt with similar situations before and was able to calm down and focus.

When Sandra was finally calm she got up slowly so as not to flare up her headache again and started checking the rooms for a body.

'Ok nobody in the house so they didn't kill him here and there wasn't any blood so they must have just knocked him out like me' she thought to herself. 'Ok Sandra there are a couple or reasons they would take Xander A) they found out he was a White Knight and want to corrupt him, B) they want to use him in a ritual, or C)he's bait for something.'

Sandra had already tried sensing him and all she came up with was he was either dead or in the underworld, so with nothing she could do here she left to inform the Elders.

Sandra was in the heavenly realm of the Elders and was currently looking for Elder Odin or Elder Zola.

'Why do all of the Elders and Whithelighters have to wear these stupid robes it makes finding a specific person a pain in the butt' she thought to herself.

"Sandra my dear what brings you here," Zola said from right behind her. This caused Sandra to jump and spin around almost immediately however she regretted it as her headache came back with a vengeance.

Seeing one of his favorite Whitelighters bend over clutching her head was enough to inform Zola that something was wrong so even as he reached down towards Sandra with his hands glowing gold with his healing powers his mind was going over the implications of Sandra coming to the upper realms looking like she just came out of a fight with an obvious migraine. Unfortunately none of the scenarios were good ones.

When Zola was done healing her Sandra looked up at him with tears in her eyes refusing to fall. "Elder Zola I lost him I lost Alexander," she almost sobbed.

"Shh my child tell me exactly what happened and we will work out a plan just let me grab Elder Odin," Zola said, and with a slight grimace Sandra agreed.

A few minutes later Zola had found Odin and they were both waiting to be informed on what happened, so she told them everything from their planning on how to exterminate the Dracul demons to Xander's first successful spell and even the details about what was in the house. When she got to when she was knocked out and woke up she was finally interrupted by Odin.

"Did you see anything of the demon that knocked you out anything at all," he asked?

"No I was facing Alex cleaning my daggers and then slamming into a wall and then nothing. I couldn't find any traces or clues after I woke up either," Sandra replied with a sigh.

"Well I think it is safe to say he is in the underworld as he has not passed through the heavenly planes, and he is more than likely alive unless they have trapped his soul which is unlikely," Zola through in.

Sandra felt something loosen in her chest that she didn't even know was tight. She had grown attached to Alexander and treated him like an annoying brother at times and a son at others. She shouldn't be getting so attached but it was almost impossible not to like Alex.

She finally looked up at the other Elders faces with a stony look and asked, "What do I need to do?"

Odin looked at Zola before responding, "Earlier we got word that one of the Charmed Ones was abducted coming home from work while this isn't too unusual for them to be abducted around the same time as your charge is more than likely a mere coincidence."

At this point Zola took over the conversation, "Your best bet to save young Alexander is to work with the Charmed Ones and their Whitelighter Leo." Sandra nodded before orbing out.

Now most Whitelighters wouldn't think twice before orbing directly into the house but Sandra was a past Slayer and knows that in these intense situations it was always kill first ask questions later, and even though she could only permanently die from a Darklighters arrows dieing still hurt. So Sandra orbed to the front door and rang the doorbell. After waiting only a few minutes a harried looking Phoebe Halliwell answered the door.

"Yes can I help you," she said.

Sandra smiled at her before saying, "I certainly hope so my charge was kidnapped and the Elders seem to think that it is related to your sisters own kidnapping." When what she said finally sunk in Phoebe let out a sigh of either relief or frustration and motioned for Sandra to come inside.

"Piper Leo we have a guest," she yelled upstairs. "Phoebe who is it we don't have time for visitors at a time like this," Piper said as she came down with Leo.

"Sandra," Leo called when he finally noticed me. I nodded and responded with a simple "Leo" in return.

Phoebe looked back in forth between the two before she said, "So I guess you know each other." "Sandra is a fellow Whitelighter but what are you doing here," he asked Sandra? "Can we sit down it's been a long morning?"

"Sure I'll get you some coffee," Piper said. When she finally returned with the coffee Sandra started her story from the beginning starting with how she was assigned as Alex's Whitelighter and finishing with their fight with the Dracul Demons. On hearing about the demons Phoebe looked over at Piper and mouthed book and when Piper nodded they went back to listening to the story both knew that they would be researching those demons for later reference.

"So after I searched around the building and couldn't find Alex I went and informed the Elders who told me that you might be able to help since they seem to think that the two abductions are related," Sandra finally finished her tale and looked up from her empty coffee mug.

Phoebe gave her a faint smile, "Don't worry even if the two aren't related we'll help you find your charge."

"Well let's get back to the Book of Shadows Paige was able to call for Leo before she was taken and he got a good look at one of the demons," Piper said. With that the group trooped upstairs to find some sort of clue on why both Xander and Paige were abducted and who did it.

An hour later Leo had finally found the demons that he saw. According to the book the demon was called A Vitaur a cousin to the Minotaur instead of a body of a man and head of a bull the Vitaur have the legs of a bull body and head of a man with two curved horns. They are a warrior race who fights with weapons or bare hand. They have no form of fire or energy balls just extreme physical strength. They are a herd like race staying together in groups ruled by a single chief who obtains his position by killing the former chief. There isn't a vanquishing potion or a spell as no Halliwell has ever faced Vitaur demons in battle. They are generally used as grunts or for manual labor in the underworld so another upper level demon was more than likely pulling the strings.

"Ok so we know what were up against except for the unknown upper level demon so Phoebe start working on a general vanquishing spell for these Vitaur demons while Leo and I work on some potions Sandra could you help Phoebe?" At Sandra's nod Piper left with Leo for the kitchen.

A couple of hours later they were all ready. Phoebe had written a couple of different vanquishing spells and a generic power of three spell in case the others don't work while Piper had a whole rack of their strongest vanquishing potions and an incomplete vanquishing potion for an upper level demon all it was missing was some skin.

They had gathered around the book and were about to read a reverse to call a lost witch spell which should take them to were Paige and Xander were kept when they were interrupted by some orbs in the middle of the attic. When the orbs finally condensed one of the figures was clearly Paige Halliwell who was grinning down at the other person who had fallen to the floor.

"Give a guy a little warning next time will you," said the unmistakable voice of Xander Harris.

"Oh I'm so sorry was that a little inconsiderate of me," Paige said with a smile on her face and mocking tone in her voice.

"I think I hate you," Xander replied with a glare but there was a hint of amusement in his eyes as well. He looked up when he heard a cry of Alex and was then tackled by Sandra.

"Hey their Sandy did ya miss little ole me," he said with a lopsided grin. Sandra let out a growl before socking him. "Don't you ever do something as irresponsible as getting kidnapped again do you hear me? Do you know how worried I was? And how many times do I have to tell you not to call me Sandy," Sandra finally finished her rant before hugging Xander again. "So I take it you missed me," He said while rubbing his sore cheek. "Yes you idiot I missed you," she replied.

The sisters and Leo just sat back and watched the reunion of Whitelighter and charge but in all honesty it looked like a reunion between family members.

"So Paige how did you two get away," Phoebe asked.

Paige gave her a faint smile before responding, "Actually Xander over their helped out a lot. He's the one who noticed the chains that held us were charmed and helped me with a spell to break out of them."

"Wait Xander I thought his name was Alex," Piper asked?

At this point Xander got up from his spot on the floor before scratching the back of his head and said, "My full name is Alexander but I didn't like it too much and my best friend couldn't say it easily so she shortened it to Xander and it stuck but someone over here doesn't like it and insists on calling me Alex."

Sandra stuck her nose slightly in the air before responding, "Xander is a childish nickname and you are a grown man I won't call you anything else just be glad I don't go around calling you Alexander because you're right it is a mouthful."

Xander had spent enough time around slayers and Queen C to know when he should just give up. Sometimes he thinks that part of being a slayer is pigheadedness but he would never ask Sandra or Buffy they would most likely kill him.

To change the subject Leo asked Paige if she knew who had abducted them.

"I never got a look at them all I saw were those Minotaur looking guys and then I woke up in a cell with Xander," she said.

Sandra looked at Xander and asked him the same question.

"Before I fell unconscious I say a normal looking man dressed in gray robes that looked like they were made of smoke and had swirling geometric symbols on it. Oh and I think the guy might be blind cause he had some of the same cloth covering his eyes."

"Ok Xander you look in the Book of Shadows and see if you can find this demon you saw Paige you and Sandra set up some crystals for a defense or warning system I don't care just give us some kind of warning in case the guy that kidnapped you comes looking," Piper was in full general mode issuing the orders.

"Aye aye captain," was all Xander said before Leo showed him to the book while Paige and Sandra went to pick up the crystals. Piper and Phoebe were almost at the door to the attic when it exploded sending both of them flying across the room.

Two Vitaur demons stormed in both carrying massive battle axes and were follows by the grey robed guy.

"Ah so this is where you two ran off to well that was a very naughty thing to do we can't have my sacrifices running away now can we," was all the guy said before the battle started.

AUTHORS NOTE: You know whenever I read a fanfic and it ends with a cliffhanger I would always get so mad but now I know why they do it. For one it's fun to do and two it builds suspense so you my wonderful readers will have to read the next chapter when it's posted. So I hope you all enjoy this chapter and don't forget to review and tell me what you think good or bad all criticism is welcome.


	6. Chapter 6

"Alex fire!" Sandra yelled as she dove behind a couch.

"On it." A stream of fire flew at the blind demon. He didn't even flinch he just grabbed the Vitaur next to him and threw him in the way of the fire stream.

Piper and Phoebe were just getting up from where they had been flung when the attic door was blown up. When Piper was finally standing she tried to freeze the demons but the upper level demon wasn't even effected and the Vitaurs could fight through it. Seeing that her sister was having trouble Phoebe grabbed one of the potions Piper had been carrying and flung it at one of the Vitaurs. When it blew up she let out a relieved sigh but then had to dodge a fireball that was thrown by the blind demon. Unfortunately the fireball blew up the rest of the potions including the incomplete vanquishing potion. When piper tried to blow up the Vitaurs she was met with the same results as her freezing power, she could blow them back and scorch them but they were resistant to magic so it would take a while to finally blow them up.

Paige on the other side of the room was having better luck. When the demons had first entered the attic there had only been two Vitaurs and the blind upper level demon. That soon changed when with a wave of his hand the blind demon summoned ten more Vitaurs all with some form of weapon. When Xander had vanquished the first Vitaur with his fire Paige had called for the others ax and flung it into its head. When the other Vitaur demons appeared she only got a chance to summon ones sword and pin the closest Vitaur to the wall before five charged her and Xander. Xander Stepped in front of her and threw a compact ball of fire that blew up when it hit the lead Vitaur incinerating it and knocking the rest back. This gave Paige a chance to fling some more of their own weapons back at them.

Sandra after her initial dodge pulled out her twin daggers and charged one of the Vitaur demons that appeared behind Piper and Phoebe. It took a swing at her with its ax but while Vitaurs are strong and durable they aren't very fast and she managed to swerve around its attacks, and got in its guard before she shoved one of her daggers up under its chin scrambling its brains. She shoved it away and moved to take out another one before she got knocked off her feet from the explosion of one of Xander's firebombs. "Dammit Alex I told you never to use those indoors," she yelled even as she pounced on top of one of the downed demons and slit its throat.

While Sandra was useful Leo wasn't. When the door first exploded he was standing far enough away that he wasn't affected, but when the ten Vitaur demons shimmered in one was right behind him. The Vitaur flung him to the side when it charged at Paige and Xander. Unfortunately he was flung right into a wall head first. He was promptly knocked unconscious for the rest of the fight.

With Paige, Xander, and Sandra handling the Vitaurs and her husband unconscious again Piper and Phoebe focused on the blind demon. With her freezing power being useless Piper tried blowing him up with slightly better results; however, slightly better meant that what was supposed to be an explosion came out as a firecracker. Seeing that her powers were useless she started blowing up random things around the demon to distract him and keep his attention on her while Phoebe crept up on his side. When Phoebe was finally close enough she attempted a levitating kick unfortunately the blind demon wasn't as blind as they thought and grabbed her leg and threw her into Piper. Both sisters were knocked back into Paige right as Sandra finished off the last Vitaur demon with a dagger in the ear from behind. Xander seeing the sisters down sent another firestream at the blind demon. At the last minute the demon shimmered out of the way and reappeared three feet to the left and launched a fireball at Xander. Xander couldn't dodge or else it would more than likely hit the sisters so he threw another firebomb at it. When both attack hit the fireball blew up the firebomb which used the extra fire from the fireball to increase its size causing an even larger explosion than the first one. The explosion threw Xander back and out the window and threw the demon back into the wall. The sisters heard a couple of snaps so he had at least one broken bone and from how he was holding his arm when he stood up they assumed it was broken.

"You pathetic little witches think this is over but I always get what I want in the end," he snarled.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah like we haven't heard that like a hundred times," Piper said before she blew the floor up by his feet throwing him back into the same wall he had just hit. This time he didn't even bother getting up and just shimmered out.

"Well this will take forever to clean up," Phoebe said as she looked around.

"Oh my God Xander!" Paige said as she scrambled to her feet and ran to the window. When she looked down she saw he had landed in some bushes that broke his fall. "Sandra you have to go help Xander," she yelled.

She didn't need to say anything as Sandra was already orbing out to heal Xander cause while the bushes broke his fall and saved him from a broken back he still managed to break both arms and a leg and had burns from the explosion on his arms and face. When she had finished healing him she orbed them both up to the attic and started to heal Leo. When Xander managed to get his bearings after the orb he looked around at all of the destruction and demon bodies. "Well crap I guess these demons aren't the self-cleaning type," he said.

"Don't worry about it," Piper said before she mumbled a spell under her breath causing all of the demons as well at the damage to vanish or fix itself. When she saw him gaping like a fish she smiled and simply said "Vanishing Spell."

"Piper! What about the personal gain," Phoebe said.

"I think that after all that we earned a little magical assisted clean up," was all she said in response.

"So while that was fun and all I would rather not have to do that again so let's find out who that was and how exactly we vanquish him," she said as she walked to The Book of Shadows.

Paige followed and looked over her shoulder while she flipped through the pages. By this time Leo was already awake and was talking with Sandra. "Nice job girls and Xander," he said as he walked over to the group of witches. "Sorry I wasn't much help back there," He continued only to be interrupted by his wife. "Don't worry about it sweetheart we've gotten used to it," she said with a smile on her face getting chuckles out of Paige and Phoebe. Leo grinned and continued "Anyways because Sandra can handle herself in a fight better than me I'm going to go report on what happened and see if they have any information on our mystery demon." "Good because I'm not finding anything on him in here but I'll keep looking, but hurry back honey," Piper said before giving her husband a kiss as he orbed out.

"So who's up for lunch?" Phoebe asked before heading to the kitchen with Paige, Xander, and Sandra to make sandwiches leaving Piper flipping through the book.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Sorry for the long gap and leaving that cliffhanger hanging for so long. I had planned to kill my blind demon here with a vanquishing spell but it's really hard to write one of those. They make it look so easy on Charmed but it's really not, so for the most part that's what was taking so long. I finally decided to just get this chapter out and ask if anyone would want to write up a vanquishing spell for me. I'd be more than willing to give you credit just send me a private review or pm. Like always please review and tell me if I did the fight scene ok or not. Since this chapter was nothing but action I would really like your opinion on what I did well or really bad.


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